The White Hart Hotel Restaurant
High Street
Dorchester-on-Thames
Oxon OX10 7HN
Tel: 01865 340074
www.oxfordshire-hotels.co.uk
This gem of a hotel restaurant is part of a small group, and as the web page suggests, based in Oxfordshire. Sue and I found The White Hart on the web and made our booking online, an easy and quite painless process. Found in the High Street of Dorchester-on-Thames, this hotel restaurant boasts twenty eight individually furnished en-suite bedrooms together with a restaurant with 2 AA Rosettes, a combination designed to attract and retain visitors to this stunning part of rural Oxfordshire. Dating back as far as 1691, originally a coaching inn, it exuded charm, a long heritage and an inviting appeal.
As well as an ideal place to stay for Oxford visitors, Dorchester-on-Thames is a highly picturesque village with many interesting places and stunning walks. These include the 12th century Abbey and Museum, fine antiques shops and the scenic Wittenham Clumps. Indeed as we walked around the village enjoying the sights and sounds we wandered into the abbey where the local choral society were putting the finishing touches to their late afternoon rehearsal of The Creation by Haydn, a work greatly admired by Sue. As we were enjoying dinner later that evening we were close enough to hear snippets of the work bouncing out from the walls of the nearby abbey, this was village life at its finest. Whilst retirement is not yet on the horizon it is certainly gathering pace on the other side of the hill, and this would appear to be an idyllic base for the autumn of a career!
Back in the hotel is was interesting to see the numbers of guests arriving late afternoon, many having been enjoying a good walk in the surrounding countryside, others coming to join with friends for a weekend break, others arriving for drinks before the Benson Choral Society performance of The Creation at the Abbey. The White Hart was a focal point for all, with a contented buzz about the place, warm in temperature and even greater warmth of welcome.
Sean, the manager was both friendly and highly efficient, with a welcome for all, then pouring wine for guests as well as taking food and drink orders in the restaurant. This is a hotel where everyone is hands on, with Sean a
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Alan McColm is QFOL's Restaurant Critic and Travel reviewer. Alan is working all over the country ... more
